Recent calamitous events across the globe caused by extreme weather have left climate scientists shocked and concerned that these events are arriving even faster than models predicted (Extreme weather takes climate change models 'off the scale', July 25).

In particular, the subway floods in Zhengzhou, in China's Henan province, caused by what the city's weather bureau called "once in a thousand years" rain, may have left a deep impression among many Singaporeans.

We know that Singapore has an integrated approach to storm water management, and that MRT stations, as well as all underground structures, are built with flood mitigation systems.

However, are these contingency measures designed to handle a once-in-a-hundred-years storm?

In Zhengzhou, a year's worth of rain fell in just a few days.

As a low-lying island city state, we are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

Meteorological experts say predicting rainfall and extreme weather are two of the hardest things to get right.

If accelerating climate change did indeed cause the unprecedented amounts of precipitation in many different parts of the world, are these events a harbinger of more extreme weather across the globe?

Is it necessary for us to prepare for the storm of the century?

Chow Kok Fai